Seven Emotions
by Candy Apple Heart Attack
Summary: ...Between them, everything was empathy. Hellboy II. Nuada x Nuala.


**Author's Note:** Alright, here's yet another of the "Seven" series for Nuada and Nuala. I hope you enjoy. You guys have to review and let me know if it's getting repetitive at this point. There's supposed to seven of these little drabbley-thingies and this is only the fifth. Two more to go. For those of you who haven't read the others, they go in order like this: **"Seven Secrets", "Seven Colors", "Seven Shades", "Seven Points"** and now, **"Seven Emotions"**.

So there. Again, I don't own Hellboy or it's lovely characters. Wish I did, though.

-Enjoy!

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**"Seven Emotions"**

Exhilaration

Across the sparring court they face each other down, eyes locked together in a battle of wills. Their weapons are raised and juxtaposed; they're poised like snakes coiled for the strike. The prince's lips crook in a small smile of self-confidence; the princess's stance shifts, subtly--and all too suddenly, they're a mixed blur of movement. Silver rings off gold as they whirl around, strike after parry; side-step beside toe-step. They come at each other with honest intent, pulling no blows. They move like mirror images, each knowing the other so well as to anticipate every strike. Nuada's blood pumps in his veins as strongly as it does in his sister's; free-laughter rises up in his chest and he lets it go, echoing Nuala's merry feminine chuckle. It's a rush, to spar like this--full out--and they enjoy each moment of it.

Despair

He knows her greatest fear--knows it with the sharp intensity of someone with the same worry. With the humans encroaching on every forest, dirtying all the rivers and destroying all those beautiful natural things the elves so cherished, he could understand--more than anyone--why she agonized. Her protest was quieter than his--much more so--but each and every time he rose to speak his opinion at Court, he was doing it as much for her as he was for himself. In the dark of the night, when he comes to her chambers to stop the tears that have consumed them both, he tells her that it will end eventually; that the humans cannot be allowed to continue on. Her eyes, when she meets his, are full of grief. _"What if we fade away?"_ Her question rips at him and the horizons of their mind go dark with the sudden chill of despair. When he adamantly--fiercely--denies her fear, he wonder which of them he's trying to convince.

Rage

"Dismantle the Army?" Her brother's hushed whisper is harsh in the absolute silence of the room; it roils like storm clouds brewing, echoing the turmoil she feels inside him. The silent watchers of the Court are all around the throne room, but her brother has eyes only for their father; incredulous fires flicker in his gaze. She wants to climb down from the dais and lay her hands on his strong shoulders; to touch him into peace. But his jaw is set and stubborn like stone; his spine is formed of granite as he stands tall before them all. His golden gaze sweeps the room and she sees as he does, through his eyes; they're all repugnant in their weakness, unbearable to his sight. "_Fools_," he says on that same harsh whisper, before he turns sharply--with deadly grace--and strides out of the room.

Sympathy

Only when they're nearly twelve years old do they realize their _gift_ is viewed as abnormal; it seemed, even among the elven-kind, a link like theirs was _unnatural_. To know another's every thought, to feel as they _feel_; to be so much a part of someone else--since _birth_--that even injuries are shared...was an abomination. It took some time to understand, because they were young and so full of innocence; when it finally gets through to Nuada--and subsequently, to herself--Nuala is shaken and weeps uncontrollably. Her brother is at her side for many minutes, the tears on his cheeks mirroring hers. Between them, the hands that could read others in an instant were clasped tightly. In the silence of a shared mind, they turned their back to the masses and bravely said _"We dare you."_

Jealousy

For him, there as only been her--always, Nuala--in his heart and in his soul. They were one from birth and one in all other things by choice. Her maid, however, is flirtatious and much too direct for Nuada's liking. HIs rejection of her advances passes without word; a fortnight later, a trio of scorpions finds their way into Nuala's bedsheets. He rushes to her aid, feeling her blood rush inside him, only to discover her standing over the lifeless form of her maid; the blade-ends of her fans dripping crimson droplets. She asks that he remove the unharmed scorpions roiling beneath her sheets and then sweeps away, down the hall to his chambers. He returns some minutes later, to find her cleaning her weapons in naught but her skin and smiling easily to herself. In that moment, she's a foreign, terrifying goddess and he wonders dimly how _much_ she knew.

Pain

Abraham's eyes are wide and blurry with confusion; even from across the room, Nuala can sense his distress. The demon, Hellboy, came in behind her blue friend but Nuada is prepared for him. Maybe she left herself too open, because her brother easily pulls from her thoughts the image of Abraham's smile--the impression of his hand on hers--and is furious. He presses his dagger--one to match her own--against her cheek; she feels the blade, warm from its proximity to his skin, marking a dip in hers. To prove a point, he brings the silver swiftly across, drawing blood; she braces herself for the pain, but it never comes. The gasp from her lips is one of surprise rather than hurt; she feels his stirring in her mind. _"Foolish sister,_" he says softly, _"don't you know that I will always shield you from pain?"_

Satisfaction

_"It's a special secret,"_ she whispered, the quiet of his bedroom swallowing her voice. He shifted on the mattress, unsure what secret she might have to share with him in the midst of the sleeping-hours; still, he pats the spot beside him and she plops down with careless grace. _"Look,"_ she says. From within the folds of her dress, she pulls a ring and presses it into his palm, her eyes alight with pride. He examines it with his keen gaze, finding it to be made of two stripes of bark, dark and light, twined together in a spiral and glossed together by what he could only assume to be hardened sap. And in the interior loop, it read "Mine". His eyes raised to hers, wondering if...and found that she wore a ring already. On the middle finger of her hand. She slipped it off to show him; on the inside, he read the same message. His smile was small but meaningful and as he slipped his ring on as well, he pulled her into his kiss.


End file.
